


the crickets are chirping (and you have to join them)

by yunakims



Category: Figure Skating RPF
Genre: Gen, M/M, mcm with yuzuvier at the side, mcm-centric, read this while playing All Star by Smash Mouth and it will give u a good feeling, strange noises in the cricket club restroom, veeeeery subtle yuzuvier, yuzuvier piggyback rides
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-27
Updated: 2017-04-27
Packaged: 2018-10-21 03:14:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10676529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yunakims/pseuds/yunakims
Summary: “What happened in the restroom?” Coach Brian asks when he sees Michael sweating profusely after coming back.“N-Nothing,” he stammers. “I just thought I heard something. Probably a ghost.” He removes his skate guards and steps on the ice again.“I don't think there are any ghosts here, kid.”





	the crickets are chirping (and you have to join them)

**Author's Note:**

> imagine mcm finding out that yuzuvier is real. yep, that's it. that's the fic.

Michael's homecoming is a long journey. There's a lot of TV guestings, interviews, press conferences, and even skating (freestyling for the people.)

Don't get him wrong, he  _loves_  his country and loves representing it, but sometimes things go a little bit overboard.

However, there are two things he learned when he came home.

1\. He absolutely  _sucks_  at rock-paper-scissors,  and 2. He's now considered a heartthrob by many people.

“Michael, what are your plans for the next season?”

He snaps off from his little daydream, remembering that he's in a press conference. A girl is holding the microphone, looking at him and anticipating his answer. She looks irritated, like she's been waiting for a long time. (She wasn't.)

“Uhm,” he starts, thinking about it. “Well, since it's Olympic season, I plan to work on my jumps. I was planning on at least medalling at Pyeongchang, but with the quad surge, I don't think I'd be able to do that without working on my jumps.”

The girl, satisfied with his answer, passes the microphone to the next person.

“Are you still going to train with Coach Slava?”

He hums. “I don't have any plans right now.”

_Lies._

Brian Orser talked to him at Worlds. He was apparently amazed at Michael's potential and he offered to coach him himself.

But he wasn't sure. He still needed to talk to Slava. The man is a good coach, and they've developed a good relationship over the course of the season.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Michael soon gets home. He was tired, with lights and cameras surrounding him. He wasn't used to that. He's been to many interviews, but not like the ones he had today. It seems the press has more interest in him now.

He's lying on his bed right now. The only sounds he can hear are the sounds of his air conditioner and the sounds of his mother cooking dinner.

His mind wanders to various places. He lingers on a particular subject — Olympic spots. If he got one last 2014, he _needs_ to get one now.

 _His_ _programs are a little underwhelming,_ he's heard people say. He doesn't want people to say that, but he can't help but wonder if they're right. The figure skating world is evolving more and more every season and he needs to keep up with it if he wants to win for his country.

He's been training the quad loop after he saw that Yuzuru Hanyu landed it cleanly in competition, but he's never succeeded in landing it like Yuzuru has.

Some fans keep telling him to leave Morozov and get a new choreographer.

He guesses he should consider it.

But first, he needs to answer Brian Orser's email.

 

 

* * *

 

 

It didn't take long before he actually moved to Toronto. He hasn't been to The Cricket Club yet, since he's still busy about all he moving in and the papers he's had to arrange, but maybe in two days he can finally be free.

The same as when he moved to the US, he didn't have his mom with him. She has to manage their business, after all. And he can manage on his own.

Mr. Sy was nice enough to let him stay in his Toronto home as long as he takes care of it. It wasn't big, but it wasn't small either. It was perfect for his stay.

He just finished putting his clothes in the closet when his phone rang. As expected, it was Brian Orser calling.

Michael takes a deep breath. This was it. The moment of truth.

He answers the call.

_“Hello? Michael?”_

“Hi, Mr. Orser.”

_“Good morning! So, how's Toronto so far? I hope you're enjoying it.”_

“I really am. Thank you for offering to coach me, sir.”

_“Drop the 'sir', son. I'm going to be your coach, not your boss. You can call me Coach Brian.”_

“Okay, Coach Brian. Uh, thank you, again.”

_“So are you coming to the club tomorrow?”_

“Yes. I just finished moving in, so I'm right on schedule.”

_“Alright. Well, see you tomorrow.”_

“See you, Coach.”

The call ends, and he finally gets to lie down on his new bed. The night is young, and so is he. He feels so vulnerable, especially in another land that's so far from home.

But the entire country is counting on him.

He _needs_ to at least win a medal.

But can he?

 

 

* * *

 

 

He almost gets lost in the city, but thankfully, even if he got off in the wrong station, a taxi driver pulled up and told him that he knew him.

“Sir, how do you know me?” He asks the man.

The man laughs. “My daughter's a big fan of you and skating in general. She has pictures of you in her room.”

It was Michael's turn to laugh. _Thank God._ “Can you take me to the Toronto Cricket Club?”

“You got off in the wrong station, didn't you?”

“... Sadly, yes. Toronto is such a big place.”

“It's fine! It's not too far from here.”

And off they went.

He gives the man his fare, but he rejects it. “You know what, son, I have a better idea for a payment. Will you be able to make my daughter smile?”

“Maybe. But how?”

He ends up taking a front-camera video saying hi and thank you to the taxi driver's daughter, whose name was apparently Lovely.

“I heard the Olympics is coming. I wish you luck out there, boy.”

“Thank you so much.”

He enters the Club. The lobby doesn't have too many people in it, and the woman by the counter greets him. “Hi there, are you Michael?”

“Yes,” he replies. “Is Coach Brian here?”

“He is. And he told me that once you arrive, I should give you this...” She trails off, searching for something in the pile of papers next to her. She finds it quickly and hands it to him.

Michael recognizes it as contact details. He nods thanks to the woman and walks to where she said Coach Brian was. It was probably the way to the rink too, because the more he walked, the colder it got.

Once he entered the rink, he gawked. He was just in _awe_ of the entire thing. Not just because of the definitely world-class facility, but also the skaters currently on the ice— none other than Yuzuru Hanyu and Javier Fernandez themselves, probably just fooling around because Coach Brian didn't seem to be anywhere near them. Yuzuru was laughing at something Javier probably said.

Michael's seen both of them before, of course, but seeing them training is another kind of thing. There was no pressure in the air, since the season just ended and they haven't learned their new choreographies entirely yet.

He hopes he could actually make friends with them, since he's still a little intimidated by their presence. He still feels some nervousness everytime he asks Yuzuru for a picture, too.

Coach Brian appears suddenly, and claps his hands to get the attention of the skaters. He came back from vacation almost a week ago, Michael heard. Javier and Yuzuru also just came back from Japan, with the latter staying for TV appearances and interviews.

“Everyone, meet Michael. He's going to be training with us starting today. I'm sure you've heard of him.”

Yuzuru whispers something to Javier, who nods in agreement.

Michael's thoughts are running wild. _What_ _did he say? Are they devising a plot to kill me and throw me in the Niagara—_

“Let's be friends!” Yuzuru yells. His accent is evident in his words, like always.

Javier follows suit. “Welcome to the club, boy.”

They look like overexcited uncles that forced him to go fishing with them. Michael still accepts the warm welcome, though.

“I have question for you when you go skate with us,” Yuzuru adds.

Michael doesn't know what Yuzuru wants to ask him.

“That question is for tomorrow, Yuzu.” Coach Brian says.

“Oh, and just call me Yuzu. Javier also. Call him Javi.”

Michael nods.

“Since when do you decide for me?” Javi asks Yuzu.

The Japanese man shrugs and skates away.

Coach Brian, who was beside Michael all this time, just laughs at the interaction between the two skaters. The man then turns to look at him. “They're almost always like that. But don't let it bother you. It's just plain friendly banter. Sooner or later you're going to join them in doing that.”

“You really think so?” Michael queries.

“I know so.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

Michael steps on the ice after doing his usual warm-up routine.

He wanders by himself on the rink. He came early. The coaches aren't even there yet. Nobody else—

"Hey kid, your boots are untied."

Michael looks at his boots, immediately regretting it after. "They're not!"

Javi laughs. It didn't seem like he just arrived, because Yuzuru is on his back, with arms around his neck. 

A piggyback ride? Michael thinks to himself. 

“Javi, changing room already. Fast,” Yuzuru nags. He seemed irritated. 

Javi sighs. “Fine, fine, I just thought you wanted to say hello to Michael.” 

Michael gulps at the mention of his name. The Japanese man looks at him. “Hello.”

Before he could say ‘hi’ back, Yuzuru whines again, causing Javi to literally just run to wherever the changing rooms probably are.

Michael waits for them to arrive again, but instead it's Coach Tracy who arrives rather than them. It's still early in the morning, and they aren't supposed to stary until eight.

The woman greets him and he greets back.

“Hi, Michael. Good morning!”

“Good morning, Coach. You're early, too?”

She smiles. “I couldn't meet you yesterday, so I decided to come by early today. Just so you know, me and Brian can raise hell when we need to. So be ready.”

“I think I might be ready for it,” Michael jests. “I mean, Yuzu and Javi are probably going to give me hell, too.”

“What is that I hear about giving hell?” Javi appears once again, with Yuzu still on his back.

Coach Tracy greets them with a good morning, looking at them like Yuzuru on Javier's back is a perfectly normal thing. Yuzu still looks irritated, but less than earlier. His face is flushed, though, which is new.

He doesn't realize he's staring until Yuzuru himself waves one of his hands in Michael's face.

“I agree with you, Michael. These two are definitely going to give you hell.”

“Coach, don't snitch on us like this,” Javi complains to Tracy.

“What is 'snitch'?” Yuzuru asks, still not coming down from Javi's back. He genuinely looks curious about the word, albeit his expression still has traces of annoyance.

“When someone snitches on you, it's like, they're not keeping your secrets. Especially evil secrets.” Javier explains.

“So you basically just confessed that you do have evil plans? Regarding Michael?” Tracy questions, shaking her head fondly.

“Yes, like running him over with those little Japanese zambonies.”

“Javi, you just jealous that Japanese zambonies are cuter than other zambonies.”

“Can you convince the JSF to let us borrow one?”

“No way.”

Michael can't help but laugh. He doesn't really understand why this is happening, but it's funny.

After a few moments, someone enters the rink, and it's obvious who it is. It's Coach Brian, ready to get started. Michael approaches him.

“Coach, I have something to ask you.”

“Ask away.”

“Is Yuzu riding on Javi's back a normal thing that happens here? I saw them earlier and I was curious. Coach Tracy didn't really seem fazed by it.”

“Well, I can't really say that it's a normal thing,” Brian declares. “But those two get up to many shenanigans. Don't worry, you'll get used to it.”

Training starts almost right after the brief conversation, and they all went stretching again, much to Michael's dismay. After that, Brian plays Javi's new program music from the audio room. Yuzuru and Michael are both watching him, careful not to get in his way.

“I said I have question for you, right?”

“Yes.”

“How do you do your Biellmann?”

 

 

* * *

 

  
After some good fifteen minutes of convincing Yuzuru that _yes, your Biellmann is fine, Michael is just a little more flexible, yes, mmhm, don't try to do Yulia Lipnitskaya's hyperextended Biellmann, your Biellmann is fine as it is, okay, calm down,_ Brian decides to let them take a break.

Michael watches Yuzuru and Javier escape from the ice to run off somewhere.

He decides that he needs to go to the restroom. Thankfully, he knows where it is and it's not that far.

The men's restroom is locked, though. And he can hear some... _strange_ noises, coming from inside.

He slowly recognizes it as Yuzuru and Javier.

He runs.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

“What happened in the restroom?” Coach Brian asks when he sees Michael sweating profusely after coming back.

“N-Nothing,” he stammers. “I just thought I heard something. Probably a ghost.” He removes his skate guards and steps on the ice again.

“I don't think there are any ghosts here, kid.”

Not long after, Yuzuru and Javier come back from ‘somewhere’.

Michael suddenly slips, and falls on his butt.

**Author's Note:**

> i wanted this to be longer but you know what, sometimes shorter is better. i mean, look at shoma.


End file.
